The ceremony to launch the 2010 cross culture year in Russia and France is one of the main reasons for President Dmitry Medvedev to arrive in Paris on Monday.
Traditionally, Moscow and Paris have had quite stable and friendly relations. The two countries are staying in touch on a wide range of international and bilateral issues. Now Russia and France are in for more than 400 cultural events. Yuri Rubinsky of the Russian Institute of Europe comments:
"Dmitry Medvedev is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the Saint Russia exhibition at Louvre. The collection features plenty of pieces of art, including icon painting. Another exhibition, which is to be opened in Paris on June 12 by Prime Ministers Vladimir Putin and Francois Fillon, will feature Russia's latest achievements in economics, science and technology. In its turn, France will please the Russian audience with the French Way of Life- the exhibition under this title will cover all spheres of life, from fashion to cooking".
The French audience will surely display great interest in the Saint Russia exhibition which was jointly prepared by the leading Russian museums. Director of the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery, Irina Lebedeva, comments:
"This is a tremendous exhibition for it can familiarize the audiences with Russia's major spiritual and artistic values. I mean the monuments of the old Russian art which we managed to preserve in our museums. There is also another exhibition in Paris the Tretyakov Gallery is taking part in- "The Symphony and power of October. Music and power in Soviet Russia in 1917-1953". We've been preparing an exhibition titled "Romantic genius of Russia in epoch of Pushkin and Gogol". Since romanticism had always been one of the landmarks of the French history, the audiences there will certainly like our exhibition".
The number of events scheduled in both Russia and France this year is unprecedented. And the visit of Dmitry Medvedev to France will definitely open a fresh page in cooperation between the two countries.
Mikhail Kurakin
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